Belt buckle assembly



July 5, 1960 w. H. MEEKER BELT BUCKLE ASSEMBLY Filed June 20, 1958 INVENTOR. Wil liom H.Meeker my 777m mm mm mm/hm/ m V "Uli United States Patent Office BELT BUCKLE ASSEMBLY William H. Meeker, Rochester, N.Y., assignor to Hickok Manufacturing Co., Inc., Rochester, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed June 20, 1958, Ser. No. 743,309

2 Claims. (Cl. 2-321) The present invention relates to a new and novel'belt buckle assembly, and more particularly to a belt buckle assembly providing an external appearance primarily of two spaced vertically extending bars having a decorative ornamental device spaced therebetween.

In recent years, the trend in belt buckles has been to provide an arrangement which has a very neat and attractive external appearance. For many years, belt buckles commonly employed in the art were provided with elongated tongues which project through a series of longitudinally spaced openings provided in the free end of the belt. Most recently developed belt buckles have provided various arrangements wherein there is no tongue projecting through the free end of the belt whereby the necessity of providing perforations in the free end ofthe belt is eliminated.

The present invention relates to the type of belt wherein perforations are eliminated in the free end, and in addition provides a highly desirable elfect since the buckle itself provides a very decorative effect while the mechanical components of the buckle are substantially hidden from view when the belt is in operative position. The structure according to the present invention provides an arrangement wherein a pair of spaced, vertically extending bar-like members is disposed adjacent the outer finished surface of the belt and is normally presented to view. A suitable ornamental device is mounted approximately midway between the bars such that it is framed by the pair of vertically extending bars and provides a very modernistic and attractive eifect.

-In addition to providing the Vdesired external appearance, the structure of the present invention provides a very simple and effective manner of securing the two ends of the belt together while employing a minimum of simply constructed components. The present arrangement also provides a highly desirable feature in that the belt is more or less universally adjustable such that it is suited for use by persons having widely different girths such that a single length of belt is adapted for use Within a very wide range of belt sizes. In order to provide the desired degree of adjustability, the various components of the apparatus are shiftable relative to one another such that they may be disposed in proper relative position regardless of the adjusted size of the belt.

The belt buckle assembly according to the present invention is employed with a belt of the type having a iirst free end and an opposite end wherein a portion thereof is doubled back upon itself and secured to the belt by an adjustable clamping member to define a looped end portion. A flattened back plate member is provided with two pairs of vertically spaced holes at opposite ends thereof. A pair of bar members is provided for securing the back plate member to the belt, and each of the bar members comprises an elongated body portion having turned over end portions at opposite ends thereof. The turned over edges of the bar members project around the Patented July 5, V1960 longitudinally extending edges of the belt and project through the holes provided in the back plate member and engage the inner surface of the belt. In this manner, the back plate member is efficiently clamped in abutting engagement with the belt, and the bar members are secured in position relative to the belt. Aligned'openings are provided through the belt and the back plate member, and an ornamental device is provided with a shank extending through the aligned openings. A suitable fastem'ng means is provided forV engaging the shank of the ornamental device-and locking it in operative position such that it is disposed adjacent the outer fmished surface of the belt intermediate the two vertically extending bar members.

A struck-out tongue member is provided integral with the back plate member and extendslaterally therefrom. An eye member is slidably disposed on the looped end portion of the belt and is provided with a slotfor receiving the tongue of the back plate member. A conventional looped strap keeper member isrslidably disposed on the looped end 'portionvof the belt and is adapted to receive the free end of the belt in a conventional manner.

A novel means is provided for maintaining the keeper member in operative position relative to the eye member and comprisesan anchor bight which projects through the looped keeper member and is fixedly attached to the eye member. n g

The adjustable clamping member which determines the size of the looped end portion of the belt is slidably positioned on the belt and may be moved therealong for adjusting the size of the looped end in accordance with the desired size of the belt. An additional desirable feature ofthe present invention is the fact that the various components ofthe belt buckle assembly may be quickly and easily assembled or disassembled relative to the belt, thereby enabling the'assemblingoperations during manufacture to be economically accomplished, and also permitting later adjustments of the assembly relative:` to the belt in an expeditious manner. Y

An object of the present invention is to provide a new and novel belt buckle assembly which provides a neat and modernistic external appearance.

Another objectbf the present invention is the provision of a belt buckle assembly composed Vof a number of simple basic components which may be easily assembled and disassembled.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a Abelt buckle assembly which provides universal adjustability las to the size ofthe associated belt, and wherein the lcomponents of the assembly are relatively adjustable to oneV another.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a belt buckle assembly which provides a very simple and effective manner of securing a back plate member to abelt.

Yet another object of the present invention is the provision of a belt buckle assembly which provides a novel manner of adjustably mounting an eye member and a keeper member and limiting the relative movement therebetween. Y

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a belt buckle assembly which is quite simpleand inexpensive in construction, Vand yet which is quite sturdy and eflicient in operation.

Other objects and many -attendant advantages ofthe present invention will become more apparent when con-v Fig. l is a front elevation of a ,belt incorporating the novel belt buckle assembly according to the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section taken along line 2 2 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 3 is a back view of a portion of the device shown in Fig. l, with certain parts removed, illustrating the manner in which the back plate is mounted relative to the inner surface of the belt;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of Fig. 3 looking in the direction of the arrows; and

Fig. 5 is a view of the eye member of the apparatus.

Referring now to the drawing wherein like reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, there is seen in Fig. 1 an elongated belt indicated generally by reference numeral having a free end portion 11 projecting through a conventional keeper member 12. An adjustable clamp member 13 is slidably positioned on the belt and defines the loop end portion indicated by reference numeral 14. A pair of bar members 15 and 16 extend vertically across the width of the belt and project upwardly and downwardly beyond the opposite longitudinal edges of the belt. An ornamental device 17, shown as being the head of a dog, is disposed approximately midway between the two bar members in the center portion of the belt. It is apparent that the pair of bars 15 and 16 Iand the ornamental dogs head 17 provide a very neat and attractive external appearance when the belt is being Worn.

Referring now to Figs. 2, 3 and 4 of the drawing, the outer finished surface of the belt is indicated by reference numeral 20 and the inner surface of the belt is indicated by reference numeral 21. A flattened back plate member is elongated in the longitudinal direction of the belt and is provided with a pair of vertically spaced. openings 26 at one end thereof and a similar pair of vertically spaced openings 27 `at the other end thereof. As seen most clearly in Fig. 4, each of the bar members comprises an elongated main body portion indicated as 16' in bar 16, and the opposite end portions of the bars are turned over such that they have an arcuate configuration. The opposite ends 16" lof bar 16 in Fig. 4 project around the upper and lower longitudinally extending edges of the belt and thence project inwardly toward the center of the belt and through the openings 26 provided in the back plate member and into engagement with the inner surface of the belt. The opposite end portions 15,of bar 15 are turned over in a similar manner and project through openings 27 in the back plate member vand into engagement with the inner surface of the belt.

It is apparent from 1an inspection of Figs. 2 and 4 that the main body portion of the bar members is spaced from the front face of the back plate member to provide a pair of channels through which the free end portion of the belt extends, and the channelso defined is .dimensioned such that there is a tight tit with the belt whereby the bars and back plate member are securely clamped to the belt. In this manner, the back plate member and bars are efiiciently mounted relative to the free end portion of the belt in a very simple and expeditious manner. In mounting the back plate and bars upon the belt, the back plate is rst disposed in abutting relationship to the inner surface of the belt, and the vertical bars are disposed adjacent the outer surface fof the belt, whereupon the ends of the vertical bars are curved and set in the illustrated position by means of a suitable tool.

A centrally disposed hole 30 is provided through the center portion of the back plate member and is provided with an irregular configuration such as being squared. An aligned opening 31 is provided through the free end portion of the belt, and a shank member 32 formed integral with the rear surface of decorative device 17 projects through alignedA openings 30 and 31. Shank member 32 is provided with an irregular configuration complementary to that of hole 30 in the back plate member such that the decorative device is maintained in proper operative position and cannot rotate relative to the back plate member. The rearwardly extending end 33 of shank 32 is threaded, and a disc-like locking member 34 is provided with a threaded central opening which receives the threaded portion of the shank. Locking member 34 is provided with a plurality of circumferentially extending ratchet teeth 35 which are adapted to engage the rear face of the back plate member for securely locking the decorative device relative to the back plate member.

A struck-out hook member is formed integral with the back plate member and projects laterally in a rearward direction from the rear face of the back plate member. An eye member 41 as seen most clearly in Fig. 5 is provided with a slot 42 for receiving hook member 40 to connect the two end's of the belt together in operative position. Eye member 41 is provided with another elongated slot 43 adapted to receive the looped portion of the belt whereby the eye member is slidably positioned on the looped portion of the belt, and an attaching lug 44 projects laterally from eye member 41 and is provided |with an opening 45 extending therethrough.

As seen in Fig. 2, the outer end of the looped' end portion of the belt is folded over at and stitched along line 51 to provide a closed loop 52 thereat. A suspender type adjustable clamping member 55 is provided with an elongated portion 56 extending through loop 52 for securing the adjustable clamping member to the end of the belt. A locking member 57 having teeth 58 formed therealong is pivotally mounted about axis 59 such that it may be rotated into tight clamping engagement With the belt for tightly clamping the belt in a well known manner. It is apparent that the `size of looped end portion 14 of the belt may be adjusted as desired by sliding clamping member 55 along belt and locking it in position.

As seen in Fig. 2, eye member 41 is slidably mounted on the looped end portion 14 of the belt, and keeper member 12 comprises a looped strap which is slidably mounted on the looped end portion of the belt, and it is apparent that the free end portion 1=1 of the belt extends through keeper member 12 in a conventional manner. Keeper member 12 and eye member 41 are interconnected to one another ina novel manner by providing an anchor bight which projects through the keeper member 12 and has the opposite end portions 66 thereof secured to the eye member by means of a rivet or like fastener 67 which projects through end portions 66 and opening 45 provided in the eye member. It is apparent with this novel construction that the eye member and interconnected keeper member may be adjusted to various positions relative to the looped end portion of the belt, and the anchor bight 65 positively limits the relative movement of the eye member and keeper member away from one another.

Referring further to Fig. 2, it should be noted that slot 42 in eye member 41 is provided in a portion 46 which is offset from the portion 47 within which slot 43 of the eye member is formed. These two offset portions 46 and 47 are connected by an intermediate portion 48. It is apparent lwhen in operative position as shown, portion 46 of the eye memberis disposed in proper operative position such that the slot 42 is interlocked with hook member 40, and offset portion 47 is disposed rearwardly thereof such that clearance is provided for the inturned ends of bar member 16, andthe point of interconnection between the looped end portion ,of the belt and the eye member is spaced rearwardly of the back plate member such that the forwardly extending portion of the looped end portion of the belt is disposed in proper relationship t0 the free end portion of the belt. it is evident that in operation, the eye member will be disposed at the outermost portion of the looped endv portion of the belt as seen in Fig. 2.

It is apparent from the foregoing that the novel structure according to the present invention provides an arrangement -wherein a very neat and modernistic external appearance is provided, and iwherein a number of simple basic components are employed which can be 'easily assembled and disassembled. The belt buckle assembly provides universal adjustment of the size of the belt as Well as adjustment of the Various components of the belt buckle assembly relative to one another. A very simple and effective manner is provided for securing the back plate member in mounted position, and a novel means is provided for interconnecting the eye member and keeper member for limiting relative movement therebetween and also permitting adjustment thereof relative to the looped end portion of the belt. The belt buckle assembly according to the present invention is very simple and inexpensive in construction, and yet is quite sturdy and eiiicient in operation.

As this invention may be embodied in several forms Without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof, the present embodiment is therefore illustrative and not restrictive, and since the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims, all changes that fall Within the metes and bounds of the claims or that form their functional as Well as conjointly cooperative equivalents are therefore intended to be embraced by those claims.

I claim:

1. A belt buckle assembly comprising an elongated belt having a looped end portion and an opposite free end portion, said free end portion including an outer face normally presented to view and an inner face normally hidden from View when in operative position, a attened back plate member disposed adjacent said inner face of said free end portion and spaced from the terminal end thereof, said back plate member having a rst pair of spaced openings, and a second pair of spaced openings formed therein, said pairs of openings being spaced longitudinally of said back plate member, the openings of each pair being spaced transversely of the back plate member, said back plate member having a width no greater than that of the free end portion of the belt adjacent thereto so that the back plate member is hidden from View when in operative position, a pair of separable spaced bars each including an elongated body portion and opposite end portions, said bars being of substantially uniform width throughout the length thereof, said elongated body p0rtions being spaced in substantially parallel relationship to said back plate member and defining channels receiving the free end portion of the belt, the opposite end portions of each of said bars being turned over the longitudinally extending edges of the belt and extending through said openings in the back plate member for mounting the bars and back plate member in position on the belt, a hook member extending laterally from said back plate member, an eye member slidably mounted on the looped end portion of the belt, said eye member having an opening formed therein for receiving said hook member therein.

2. Apparatus as deiined in claim 1, wherein said back plate member has a hole formed therethrough and the free end portion of said belt is provided with an aligned hole, an ornamental device disposed adjacent the outer surface of the belt and positioned between said bars, said ornamental device having a shank portion extending through said aligned holes, and means for xedly connecting said ornamental device to said back plate.

References Cited in the ijle of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,490,941 Sachs Apr. 22, 1924 1,517,703 Byer Dec. 2, 1924 1,600,279 Epstein Sept. 21, 1926 1,601,173 Hill Sept. 28, 1926 1,826,563 Mix Oct. 6, 1931 FOREIGN PATENTS 853,974 France Dec. 23, 1939 1,140,666 France Mar. 4, 1957 

